


home videos

by hallelujah99



Series: The Goodkind-Shalifoe Family [7]
Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: Babies, F/F, Fluff, Fluffyfest, Parenthood, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:07:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28925532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hallelujah99/pseuds/hallelujah99
Summary: Shelby has always loved watching home videos(Part of a series but can be read as a standalone)
Relationships: Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Series: The Goodkind-Shalifoe Family [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2088612
Comments: 9
Kudos: 166





	home videos

Shelby always loved home videos. 

When she was a kid, she’d watch videos of herself as a baby. She watched herself dig her hands into her first birthday cake, and wondered what had compelled her to rub the frosting all over her white-blonde hair.

When she was in middle school, she and Becca would sit in front of her dad’s laptop and film videos. Make-up tutorials and Q&As, singing videos and them just talking, tossing inside jokes back and forth. 

Those videos were agonizing to watch for a long time, but when Shelby left her parents house for the last time, she was sure to grab the flash drives they had been saved on. 

When Shelby first fell in love with Toni, it took a while before the lack of a camera even occurred to her, seeing as so much was different. But when she did come to think about it, it broke her heart a little bit, that she couldn’t record Toni’s laugh, couldn’t even take a picture of them together. 

She did learn, eventually, there actually was footage of all of it. Their first kiss, their first time, the many nights cuddled together by the fire. It was one of the many traumas she still was working through with her therapist, the sense of invasion. She had declined to view them when the lawyers had offered and tried not to dwell too much on that choice anymore.

The video of her and Toni’s first dance at their wedding was one she could watch a million times, and perhaps she would in her life. The way Toni’s eyes shined, the smiles on both of their faces, always sent Shelby back to that moment, back to the unadulterated joy of knowing that this was the start of forever. 

For a while, Toni didn’t quite share her views on videos, as evidenced by the many videos she has of Toni rolling her eyes, covering her face or pushing the phone and saying “Babe! Stop!” in a tone that let Shelby know she was actually just fine to continue. 

That changed when Isla was born, though. Shelby has dozens of videos of Isla in Toni’s arms. 

She watches them in bed one night when she just can’t quite fall asleep.

_ “Look at her, babe. Isn’t she just perfect?” Toni says in the first one, smiling at Shelby behind the camera, as she rocks an hour-old Isla. _

_ “Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma” Toni coos at an eight month old Isla, who echoes her back. “She’s saying Mama.” Toni says as she looks up at Shelby, tears forming in her eyes. _

Shelby has a new favorite video. She has no idea how many times she’s watched it in the 2 weeks since its filming, but it never gets old to her. 

_ Martha was the one filming, so it starts with Shelby, lying in her hospital bed, exhausted from having given birth a second time, with her newborn in her arms.  _

_ It then turns to the doorway, and there’s Toni and a now five year old Isla, holding hands.  _

_ Toni brings Isla to the side of the bed, and her whole tiny body is bouncing with excitement. “That’s my baby sister!” She squeals. _

_ “Yes, it is. Isn’t she so cute!” Toni says, as she sits on the bed besides Shelby and pulls Isla onto her lap. _

_ “Can I hold her? Please can I hold her?” _

_ “Yep, Mommy’s gonna help you.” Shelby tells her.  _

_ Toni pulls a pillow onto Islas lap and wraps her arms around her torso. Shelby places the baby into Toni’s arms, and Isla wraps one delicate arm around her sister.  _

_ “Hi, baby. I love you.” Isla whispers, suddenly so calm. She leans down and presses the gentlest kiss to her forehead.  _

_ “She loves you, too.” Shelby and Toni say practically in unison. It wasn’t planned but wasn’t a surprise, the way they were on the same wavelength.  _

_ Shelby’s hand lifts up to Toni’s face and Toni leans into it closing her eyes for a second.  _

_ “What’s her name?” Isla asks. _

_ “June.” Shelby says.  _

_ “Remember, Mommy and Mama met on an island, and now we have Isla?” Toni says, explaining the extremely abridged version of the story for the thousandth time. “Well we met in the month of June, so now we have June.”  _

_ Isla leans down to press another kiss to June’s forehead, then Toni leans down and kisses the top of Isla’s head, finally Shelby leans over and kisses Toni.  _

The video ends there, which is fine by Shelby. She remembers how she felt in that moment, like everything in her life was completely how it was meant to be. 

And even though she’s exhausted from nights full of June crying and days full of Isla testing limits and she’s sore from giving birth and breastfeeding, she still feels everything is in its place. 

Her wife, her soulmate, the person who knows her inside and out, is beside her in bed, and every step of the way in life. 

She quits out of the video and goes to the camera app. She films as she runs her fingers through a sleeping Toni’s hair. 

“I love you.” She whispers. 

And even through her sleep, Toni hums it back, just loud enough for Shelby to hear every time she rewatches that video. 

**Author's Note:**

> I so do not have time to be writing right now lol I wrote this whole thing standing in the threshold of my bathroom???
> 
> Shoutout to user ClaDanvers for suggesting I write about Isla becoming a big sister! I wasn't going to give them a second baby because I really couldn't come up with a follow-up to Isla lol but my girlfriend came up with the idea of naming her after the month they met and I figured that worked! 
> 
> Anyway, if you enjoyed please comment! It would make my day and make me feel better about not doing the work I should have been doing lol


End file.
